About the study
A market this size shouldn't be invisible.
Anabolic-androgenic steroids, peptides and other image- and performance-enhancing drugs are used by a diverse population across Australia: for appearance, performance, recovery and wellbeing. Yet IPEDs sit at the edge of mainstream drug surveillance, so people navigate an unregulated market with almost no reliable information about what's actually in circulation.
The gap
Drug checking has become an established harm reduction response to unregulated markets, but its application to IPEDs has lagged well behind opioids, stimulants and festival settings. In Australia, PEDTest is the only dedicated IPED checking service, and the community data it generates has never been systematically analysed.
Our vision
A sustainable system that uses community data to inform harm reduction, services and public health policy.
Method
Repeated cross-sections, anonymously linked over time.
Who takes part
People aged 16+ who have used, use, or plan to use IPEDs.
What's collected
Drug type, formulation, labelled claims and the test outcome, plus an embedded survey on use patterns, harm reduction practices and service access.
How it's protected
Anonymous linking codes connect submissions over time without identifying anyone. Ethics approval is held through The University of Queensland.
How it's reported
Analysis runs in rolling three-month cycles. Every published figure names its sample size and its limits, indicative, not representative.
The team
Researchers, peers and sector leaders.
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Together the team spans secure data infrastructure and advanced analytics, lived-experience-led implementation, and services overseeing more than $30M per annum in sector funding, with an established joint record on IPED market contamination and legitimacy.